"There were many times that I would go into auditions and the casting directors would say, 'It's really great, we love what you're doing but we'd really love for you to come back in a jean miniskirt and high heels,'" Larson, 26, recalled. "Those were always a fork in the road because there's no reason for me to show up in a jean miniskirt and high heels other than the fact that you want to create this fantasy, that you can reject."

"I personally always rejected that moment, I tried maybe once and it always made me feel terrible," continued Larson.

Hollywood's gender pay gap--and lack of opportunity for women--is well documented. A 2015 study found that just 21 of the 100 top-grossing films of 2014 featured a female lead or co-lead, while only 28.1% of characters in 100 top-grossing films were female, period.

With a lack of roles comes a limit to remuneration: Though top actresses in big budget films can earn between $10 million to $20 million per role, it's much rarer for women to get the blockbuster part which would warrant the lucrative backend deals many male actors demand.

When women do get roles, they are regularly hypersexualized. According to a new USC report that studied onscreen representations, 28.6% of female characters in films feature women in sexually revealing clothing

It's an issue Larson testified to having first hand experience with: "They were asking for me to wear a jean miniskirt and heels to be sexy, but a jean miniskirt and heels does not make me feel sexy, it makes me feel uncomfortable," explained Larson.

"Learning for me what it took to feel confident and strong and take what these people were trying to get to exude out of me come from a personal place and try to represent for women that I know--women that I understand, complicated women--that became my mission," concluded Larson.

Room grossed $23.5 million on a $6 million budget; this is Larson’s first Oscar nomination and win. She has yet to join FORBES’ ranking of highest-paid actresses--or reach the high seven figure earning league--but an Oscar win will only help her fortunes.